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Autoblog Podcast #397

Episode #397 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, and Seyth Miersma talk about the leadership change at Ferrari, the Mercedes-AMG GT, and we give a report on the Long-Term Garage. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #397:
Topics:

Ferrari chairman ticked off by Alonso

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo does not strike us as the kind of person we'd want to cross. We imagine the Chairman of Ferrari as sort of like an automotive Don Corleone, a thought that is further confirmed when we hear about the aftermath of last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso made some unsubstantiated remarks that have angered his team, with The Daily Mail reporting that when asked after the race what he wanted for his birthday, the Spaniard responded "Someone else's car." And while no one seems to know exactly what was said, it was enough to prompt a personal phone call from the boss of Ferrari on Alonso's birthday for a dressing down.
Montezemolo reminded Alonso that, "All the great champions who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own. This is the moment to stay calm, avoid polemics and show humility and determination in making one's own contribution, standing alongside the team and its people both at the track and outside it."

LaFerrari trading at double its list price

If you've been looking at the seven-figure price tags (plus or minus) on the latest batch of hypercars, and wondering how their manufacturers could possibly charge that much, consider that their predecessors typically traded at well above their list price as it is. The Ferrari Enzo, for example, listed for "only" $650k, but with production limited to 349 units, demand far outstripped supply, driving the mark-up into seven-figures. In fact Enzos are still selling for a million or more at auction. Surely Ferrari deserves a piece of that action itself, at least as much as the speculators... hence the $1.7 million sticker price on its successor LaFerrari.
Here's the thing, though: according to the latest reports, buyers are paying that much again just for the privilege of getting their hands on a LaFerrari. In other words, they're paying double the already sky-high asking price: as much as $3.4 million to put it in the same ballpark as the Lamborghini Veneno (whose production was even more limited) and the latest Legend edition of the Bugatti Veyron Vitesse roadster.
The story gets a bit more sane with its rivals, though: according to the analysis reported by Oracle Finance, the McLaren P1 is commanding "only" a $500k premium over list, and the Porsche 918 Spyder "just" $335k extra. However even less expensive new models from high-end automakers like the Lamborghini Huracán and Porsche Macan are reportedly commanding $50k and $10k premiums, respectively.